THE BEER NUT: Amesbury's Barewolf throws a party to celebrate year 1

Norman Miller Daily News Staff @Norman_MillerMW

Wednesday

Jul 18, 2018 at 10:45 AM

Barewolf Brewing is celebrating its first year in business with a fun event. Brewery Ommegang looks to a character on a popular HBO series to design a new beer. Find out what's gone sour at one Framingham brewery. And, finally, if you like mead you'll like this news about two Vermont mead-makers that are making inroads in the Bay State.

Barewolf Brewing Company is having a birthday party and everyone is invited.

The brewery is turning 1, and will celebrate with a July 28 party at its 12 Oakland St., Amesbury, brewery. The festivities take place from noon to 11 p.m.

The party will feature the release of four new beers, including IPAs and saisons, as well as a total of nine beers on tap inside the taproom.

The party will feature the re-release of the brewery's Kitty Kitty Pizza Party Pale Ale. And they'll have Kitty Kitty Pizza Party Pale Ale T-shirts, and cases before the beer is released to stores.

Two food trucks – Phoenix Rising Pizza and Frenchman’s BBQ - will be dishing out their deliciousness, and two bands – Franky Boy and the Blue Express and the Darren Hawes Band - will be playing during the party.

The brewery is dog friendly, so pups are welcome.

In other brewery news, Brewery Ommegang is once against partnering with HBO to release the newest “Game of Thrones” beer – Mother Of Dragons.

The beer is brewed in honor of a female character on the show, Daenerys Targaryen (I still can’t believe she’s Jon Snow’s aunt). It is the third beer in the Royal Reserve Collection, which is a series of four beers named for the four competing to be the leader of the Seven Kingdoms on "Game of Thrones."

“Mother of Dragons represents in beer one of our favorite characters from 'Game of Thrones.' Daenerys’s ascent from obscurity has been one of the most inspiring storylines of the show, and we’re thrilled to release a blend that embodies the character traits that have underpinned that rise,” said Doug Campbell, Brewery Ommegang's president.

Realizing that nothing in the last paragraph makes sense to those who don't watch the epic series, here are the details of the beer. Mother of Dragons is a blend of a smoked porter and a Belgian kriek. The beer is described as having “aromas of chocolate-covered cherries” with “subtle” smoke and roasted malt. The tart cherry flavor is supposed to blend with a semisweet chocolate and subtle smoke flavor.

The beer is 6.5 percent alcohol by volume (ABV), and will be available in 750 ml bottles beginning in September. Each bottle is expected to cost about $13.

Something's sour

Springdale by Jack’s Abby has announced that they will be releasing three new sour beers this summer in their downtown Framingham taproom and in stores.

The first is Figetta Bout, a brown sour oak-aged beer brewed with figs. The beer is described as having a “woodsy, cedar-like character,” and comes in at 7.2 percent ABV,

The second, Friends in Merlot Places, is a barrel-aged beer aged on merlot grapes. It has 9.5 percent ABV and is exposed to several wild yeasts.

The third new beer is Cryptocurrants, a brown sour blended beer aged on currants in an oak barrel. It has and ABV of 6 percent.

A multitude of meads

Although mead is not beer, I’ve always kind of considered it beer’s older cousin. And, since Vikings drank it, it’s a cool drink.

Anyhow, Groennfell Meadery and Havoc Mead (both share a facility in Colchester, Vermont) have announced they will begin distributing cans of their meads throughout Massachusetts.

Groennfell’s meads include Valkarie’s Choice, Nordic Farmhouse and Old Wayfairer. Havoc’s meads include Hop Swam, Psycho Pomp and Root of All Evil.

Cans and draft mead will be available.

Norman Miller is a Daily News staff writer. Email him at nmiller@wickedlocal.com or call 508-626-3823. Check out the Beer Nut blog at http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/section/blogs01?taxid=646&start=2. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @RealBeerNut and on Facebook at facebook.com/NormanMillerBeerNut.